943 research outputs found
Recruiting hard-to-reach populations to physical activity studies : evidence and experiences
Most researchers who are conducting research with a public health focus face difficulties in recruiting the segments of the population that they really want to reach. This symposium presented evidence and experiences on recruiting participants to physical activity research, including both epidemiological and intervention based studies. Results from a systematic review of recruitment strategies suggested that we know little about how best to recruit and highlighted the need for researchers to report this in more detail, including metrics of reach into the target population such as number, proportion, and representativeness of participants. Specific strategies used to optimise responses to a population-based mail survey were presented such as study promotion, survey design, multiple mailings, and personal engagement. Finally, using place based recruiting via schools or places of worship to target ethnic minority youth were discussed. Overall the symposium presenters suggested that we need to learn more about how best to recruit participants, in particular those typically under-represented, and that researchers need to apportion a similar amount of planning effort to their recruitment strategies as they do the their research design. Finally we made a plea for researchers to report their recruitment processes in detail
scattering S wave from the data on the reaction
The results of the recent experiments on the reaction
performed at KEK, BNL, IHEP, and CERN are analyzed in detail. For the I=0
S wave phase shift and inelasticity a new set
of data is obtained. Difficulties emerging when using the physical solutions
for the S and D wave amplitudes extracted with the partial wave
analyses are discussed. Attention is drawn to the fact that, for the
invariant mass, m, above 1 GeV, the other solutions, in principle,
are found to be more preferred. For clarifying the situation and further
studying the resonance thorough experimental investigations of the
reaction in the m region near the threshold
are required.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
A global fit of and elastic scattering in ChPT with dispersion relations
We apply the one-loop results of the ChPT suplemented
with the inverse amplitude method to fit the available experimental data on
and scattering. With esentially only three parameters we
describe accurately data corresponding to six different channels, namely
and . In addition we
reproduce the first resonances of the and channel with the
right mass corresponding to the and the particles.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures available on request, FT/UCM/10/9
S-wave Meson-Meson Scattering from Unitarized U(3) Chiral Lagrangians
An investigation of the s-wave channels in meson-meson scattering is
performed within a U(3) chiral unitary approach. Our calculations are based on
a chiral effective Lagrangian which includes the eta' as an explicit degree of
freedom and incorporates important features of the underlying QCD Lagrangian
such as the axial U(1) anomaly. We employ a coupled channel Bethe-Salpeter
equation to generate poles from composed states of two pseudoscalar mesons. Our
results are compared with experimental phase shifts up to 1.5 GeV and effects
of the eta' within this scheme are discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure
On the precision of chiral-dispersive calculations of scattering
We calculate the combination (the Olsson sum rule)
and the scattering lengths and effective ranges , and ,
dispersively (with the Froissart--Gribov representation) using, at
low energy, the phase shifts for scattering obtained by Colangelo,
Gasser and Leutwyler (CGL) from the Roy equations and chiral perturbation
theory, plus experiment and Regge behaviour at high energy, or directly, using
the CGL parameters for s and s. We find mismatch, both among the CGL
phases themselves and with the results obtained from the pion form factor. This
reaches the level of several (2 to 5) standard deviations, and is essentially
independent of the details of the intermediate energy region ( GeV) and, in some cases, of the high energy behaviour assumed. We discuss
possible reasons for this mismatch, in particular in connection with an
alternate set of phase shifts.Comment: Version to appear in Phys. Rev. D. Graphs and sum rule added. Plain
TeX fil
On the precision of the theoretical predictions for pi pi scattering
In a recent paper, Pelaez and Yndurain evaluate some of the low energy
observables of pi pi scattering and obtain flat disagreement with our earlier
results. The authors work with unsubtracted dispersion relations, so that their
results are very sensitive to the poorly known high energy behaviour of the
scattering amplitude. They claim that the asymptotic representation we used is
incorrect and propose an alternative one. We repeat their calculations on the
basis of the standard, subtracted fixed-t dispersion relations, using their
asymptotics. The outcome fully confirms our earlier findings. Moreover, we show
that the Regge parametrization proposed by these authors for the region above
1.4 GeV violates crossing symmetry: Their ansatz is not consistent with the
behaviour observed at low energies.Comment: Added more material, mostly in Sects. 7, 8 and 9, in support of the
same conclusions. Latex, 28 pages, 3 figure
Interventions aimed at increasing research use in nursing: a systematic review
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There has been considerable interest recently in developing and evaluating interventions to increase research use by clinicians. However, most work has focused on medical practices; and nursing is not well represented in existing systematic reviews. The purpose of this article is to report findings from a systematic review of interventions aimed at increasing research use in nursing.</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To assess the evidence on interventions aimed at increasing research use in nursing.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A systematic review of research use in nursing was conducted using databases (Medline, CINAHL, Healthstar, ERIC, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Psychinfo), grey literature, ancestry searching (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews), key informants, and manual searching of journals. Randomized controlled trials and controlled before- and after-studies were included if they included nurses, if the intervention was explicitly aimed at increasing research use or evidence-based practice, and if there was an explicit outcome to research use. Methodological quality was assessed using pre-existing tools. Data on interventions and outcomes were extracted and categorized using a pre-established taxonomy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Over 8,000 titles were screened. Three randomized controlled trials and one controlled before- and after-study met the inclusion criteria. The methodological quality of included studies was generally low. Three investigators evaluated single interventions. The most common intervention was education. Investigators measured research use using a combination of surveys (three studies) and compliance with guidelines (one study). Researcher-led educational meetings were ineffective in two studies. Educational meetings led by a local opinion leader (one study) and the formation of multidisciplinary committees (one study) were both effective at increasing research use.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Little is known about how to increase research use in nursing, and the evidence to support or refute specific interventions is inconclusive. To advance the field, we recommend that investigators: (1) use theoretically informed interventions to increase research use, (2) measure research use longitudinally using theoretically informed and psychometrically sound measures of research use, as well as, measuring patient outcomes relevant to the intervention, and (3) use more robust and methodologically sound study designs to evaluate interventions. If investigators aim to establish a link between using research and improved patient outcomes they must first identify those interventions that are effective at increasing research use.</p
Meson-meson scattering within one loop Chiral Perturbation Theory and its unitarization
We present the complete one-loop calculation of all the two meson scattering
amplitudes within the framework of SU(3) Chiral Perturbation Theory, which
includes pions, kaons and the eta. In addition, we have unitarized these
amplitudes with the coupled channel Inverse Amplitude Method, which ensures
simultaneously the good low energy properties of Chiral Perturbation Theory and
unitarity. We show how this method provides a remarkable description of
meson-meson scattering data up to 1.2 GeV including the scattering lengths and
the generation of seven light resonances, which is consistent with previous
determination of the chiral parameters. Particular attention is paid to discuss
the differences and similarities of this work with previous analysis in the
literature.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures. Comments on sigma, kappa and eta', as well as
some references added. Final version to appear in Phys.Rev.
Mitochondrial Epigenetic Changes Link to Increased Diabetes Risk and Early-Stage Prediabetes Indicator
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is characterized by mitochondrial derangement and oxidative stress. With no known cure for T2D, it is critical to identify mitochondrial biomarkers for early diagnosis of prediabetes and disease prevention. Here we examined 87 participants on the diagnosis power of fasting glucose (FG) and hemoglobin A1c levels and investigated their interactions with mitochondrial DNA methylation. FG and A1c led to discordant diagnostic results irrespective of increased body mass index (BMI), underscoring the need of new biomarkers for prediabetes diagnosis. Mitochondrial DNA methylation levels were not correlated with late-stage (impaired FG or A1c) but significantly with early-stage (impaired insulin sensitivity) events. Quartiles of BMI suggested that mitochondrial DNA methylation increased drastically from Q1 (20 < BMI < 24.9, lean) to Q2 (30 < BMI < 34.9, obese), but marginally from Q2 to Q3 (35 < BMI < 39.9, severely obese) and from Q3 to Q4 (BMI > 40, morbidly obese). A significant change was also observed from Q1 to Q2 in HOMA insulin sensitivity but not in A1c or FG. Thus, mitochondrial epigenetic changes link to increased diabetes risk and the indicator of early-stage prediabetes. Further larger-scale studies to examine the potential of mitochondrial epigenetic marker in prediabetes diagnosis will be of critical importance for T2D prevention
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